Claudius Saturninus, On the Penalties of Civilians. Acts such as theft or homicide; verbal statements, such as insults, or betrayal by advocates; written ones, such as forgeries and criminal libels; and advice such as is given in conspiracies and the agreements of thieves are punished, for it is the same as a crime to assist others by persuasion. 1These four kinds of offences should be considered under seven different heads; namely, the cause, the person, the place, the time, the quality, the quantity, and the result. 2The cause, in the case of blows which are unpunished when inflicted by a master or a parent; for the reason that they seem to be given rather for the purpose of correction than injury. They are punishable when anyone is beaten by a stranger in anger. 3The person is considered from two points of view: first, that of him who committed the act; and second, that of him who suffered it; for otherwise slaves would be punished differently from freedmen for the same offences. And anyone who dares to attack his master or his father is punished differently from one who raises his hand against a stranger, a teacher, or a private individual. In the discussion of this subject age should also be taken into account. 4The place renders the same act one either of theft or sacrilege, and determines whether it should be punished with death or with a penalty of less severity. 5The time distinguishes a person temporarily absent from a fugitive, and a housebreaker or a daylight thief from one who commits the crime by night. 6The quality, when the act is either more atrocious or less grave, as manifest thefts are usually distinguished from those that are non-manifest; quarrels from highway robberies; pillage from ordinary theft; impudence from violence. On this point Demosthenes, the greatest orator of the Greeks, said: “It is not the wound but the disgrace which causes the insult, for it is not a wicked act to strike a freeman, but it becomes such when this is done by way of insult; for Athenians, he who strikes does many things which he who suffers them cannot properly communicate to others, by his bearing, his aspect, or his voice, when he smites with every evidence of contumely, as if he were an enemy, whether he strikes with a rod, or delivers a blow in the eye. These things are productive of annoyance, and cause men who are not accustomed to be insulted to become beside themselves.” 7The quantity distinguishes a common theft from one who drives away a herd of cattle, for anyone who steals a sow shall be punished merely as a thief; and he who drives away a number of animals shall be punished as a cattle stealer. 8The result should also be considered even when it is brought about by a man of the most amiable character; although the law does not punish with less severity a person who was provided with a weapon for the purpose of killing a man than him who actually killed him. Therefore, among the Greeks, crimes committed by accident were expiated by voluntary exile, as was stated by the most eminent of poets: “When I was small, Menetius of Opontus conducted me into your house, on account of a sad homicide; when on that day, I unintentionally and unwillingly enraged over a game of dice, killed the son of Amphidamantus.” 9It happens that the same crimes are more severely punished in certain provinces; as, for instance, in Africa, those who burn harvests; in Mysia, those who burn vines; and counterfeiters, where mines are situated. 10It sometimes happens that the punishments of certain malefactors are rendered more severe whenever an example is necessary, as for the suppression of many persons engaged in highway robbery.